where does Hockey stand in relation to other sport's collectiblity

[icefields]

i have often wondered and gotten different responses about this.
is collecting a regional thing?
is it the same throughout north america.
now i realize hockey probably doesnt do as well in say new mexico as it would in saskatchewan
any idea/opinion on where the preferences lie.

and rookie cards are number one in all sports
but whats number 2 - vintage, parallels, ip autos, inserts, player/team specific, game used, sticker autos......

would a patrick kane parallel card do as well in BC as it would in Illinois

any thoughts would be interesting to hear
thank you in advance

[cjb]

It's my personal opinion that hockey cards of all players playing on Canadien team are national. An Elias Petterson Rookie cards goes for more money in Canada than it does in the USA, but not necessarily more in BC than it would in Ontario.

[pwskelly]

I have found that Canadian provinces and territories value hockey far more than our southern neighbours. I have a lot of relatives who live in the states and even in "hockey mad" states, hockey is usually the second or third most popular sport. Southern states often place hockey below the NFL, MLB, NASCAR ... and lets not get started on college or even high school football/baseball.

RCs are #1 in terms of collectibility, but I think hard signed autos are #2 ... then tend to sell at a consistently higher value than parallels, memorabilia cards etc.

[ronfir]

I live in the Dallas, TX metroplex area and hockey is way down on the list as far as card collecting goes. Pokémon is even more collected than hockey.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Definitely not the same throughout North America in general. In the United States, hockey is seen as more of Canada's sport and usually trails football, baseball, and basketball in most places, especially in the lower half of the country where it's warmer. The collectibility follows suit; most places prioritize football and baseball cards (football overtook baseball in popularity awhile back in terms of general popularity, but card collecting historically has a strong baseball bias), then basketball a somewhat distant third (I'm primarily a basketball collector, and besides rookies, Prizm parallels are huge among collectors), and then hockey a more distant fourth. I've lived in Missouri for more than half my life, pretty much the middle of the US, and there's not much buzz around hockey except a little bit about the St. Louis Blues now and then.

[pwskelly]

I live in the Dallas, TX metroplex area and hockey is way down on the list as far as card collecting goes. Pokémon is even more collected than hockey.

My aunt and uncle lived in Bryan, TX for years and my uncle even joked that high school football draws more than professional hockey. He showed me a couple of the high school football fields and I can see why.

[OGColl]

It's definitely a regional/national thing.

Many fans feel they relate to any given sport by their personal experiences playing the game or being so enthralled by the game that they feel they "know" the sport on a very deep, intimate and reasoned level. Having a true "love" of any sport will draw interest and being within a community of like-minded folks elevates that interest too.

Hockey is the national sport of Canada and participation is encouraged and honored to every Canadian. Canada is also a nation with about 1/9th the population of the United States and on the basis of sheer numbers, hockey will never be as popular as other sports here in the U.S. The interest in hockey however, does extend beyond North America, as so much of the sport is comprised of players from Europe and strong interest there fuels the collecting community of hockey.

It can certainly be argued that hockey is not only the greatest sport, but that it's collector base is the most ardent and passionate. But that's always been the case with hockey vs the other sports.

[icefields]

so besides just the sport
do people collect by brand?
opc is very affordable in hockey cards
and mvp and metal universe
but have a smaller perceived "value"
would it be UD The Cup, or middle of the road brands -
is it the same in baseball or football
i sometimes watch what sells on (Fe)ebay and am surprised or confused by the lack of a pattern

[ronfir]

My aunt and uncle lived in Bryan, TX for years and my uncle even joked that high school football draws more than professional hockey. He showed me a couple of the high school football fields and I can see why.

One of suburbs, Allen, TX, build a new high school stadium for their one high school. Opened in 2012 at a cost of only $60,000,000. Yes, sixty million for a high school stadium. Needless say they have a pretty awesome team each year and as far as I know even through the city has over 105,000 residents has just one high school!

[OGColl]

so besides just the sport
do people collect by brand?
opc is very affordable in hockey cards
and mvp and metal universe
but have a smaller perceived "value"
would it be UD The Cup, or middle of the road brands -
is it the same in baseball or football
i sometimes watch what sells on (Fe)ebay and am surprised or confused by the lack of a pattern

I think you're now wading into deeper and more dangerous waters.....LOL

I think buyer choices are driven by several factors. Perhaps an apt comparison is why some buy Ford and others Chevy, and still others Mercedes-Benz. And still some others can dive in for a Ferrari.

As they say: "Art is in the eye of the beholder", and I suspect the interest and passion for certain brands is based on the esoteric perhaps, but more so on the "feel" of the cards. For me, and perhaps less so in today's realm, it was about how the set and subsets looked and what kind of effort and challenge it took to complete the set and subsets that I wanted to pursue. Today's collectors are highly driven by the #'d cards and when the card combines low # and high design aspect, above just a different color, then the excitement seems highest.

There was a simplicity to the vintage era and its total of mostly one card brand and one look. Some could argue, as I would, that having a single brand and perhaps several thousand different cards, across all variations of that release, as being "too much". But, to each their own.